Project Achimeds OT1: O Little Town of Eureka
by ZeroGain
Summary: A "Project Archimedes" outtake, written at prompting by a fellow author. A few differences in the way episode 4x10 happens in my A.U. due to both "Way of the Gun" and "PA". Jo's POV, 3rd person limited.


**PROJECT ARCHIMEDES**  
A "Way of the Gun" Sequel

* * *

OUTTAKE: O LITTLE TOWN… OF EUREKA

"Vegas!" she thought, staring at the (barely) restrained chaos of the Global Dynamics "Christmas" Party, Chief of Security Jo Lupo fought very hard not to crack a big smile. The moment was fleeting however. She was burning up, whatever was wrong with the air conditioning made the situation even worse!

Still, it was Christmas, and she was thoroughly enjoying Zoe's continued consternation as to who exactly was her Secret Santa. Allison was a good sport though, and it had warmed Jo's heart to see the smile on her friend's face. It was somewhat odd thinking of Allison as 'friend', but she supposed that's where that relationship was at. And Vincent, the big teddy bear, the joy on his face at seeing those pots and pans was priceless! There was still Zane's tickets, and she had some anxiety about how those would be received. His dad had died before the two had made it to a promised concert. She hoped he would love them, and it wasn't like she would mind going to see the Boss, herself.

Walking through the rotunda, trying to appear every inch the stern and severe totalitarian her alter-ego had apparently been, Jo came upon a surprise she couldn't decide immediately if she liked or hated. There, sitting on the Santa throne, was her Zane, dressed in a tight fitting black shirt that read "Santa" on it and left the viewer with no doubt about his fitness. Sitting on his lap was Monica Lewis, a cute and perky little technician from Section 4. To his left and right were Casandra Evans, wearing a very tight fitting red shirt saying "Nice", and Shauna Harris in all of her Mediterranean seductress glory and an even tighter shirt saying "Naughty". If there was one woman in all of Eureka that was guaranteed to immediately stoke her fires of jealousy to all new heights it was Shauna Harris!

And there the bitch was hanging out by _her_ Zane, as if she could pour over him! For a space of three heartbeats Jo thought about drawing her taser and planting the electrodes between the slut's eyes! She wanted to scream!

"_No, no good, Jo. You're better than that!_" she reminded herself a few times.

She'd just convinced herself that shooting Harris wasn't a good idea, no matter how satisfying it felt, when Zane spotted her. "Oh, hey Jojo! Wanna tell me what you want for Christmas?" he leered.

Jo stared at him as he continued. Smoothing his hand down his left thigh, the one near Harris, he said with a definitely 'for-the-bedroom' (or maybe kitchen... or couch...) leer, "This one's for Naughty-" and he did the same for the other leg, next to Miss 'I'm-Going-To-Have-Back-Problems-In-Ten-Years', though this time with a melodramatic disappointed tone, "And this one's for Nice." He ended it with a pout that was almost enough to make her forgive him for hanging out with Harris and Evans. She'd seen that pout a few mornings ago after he'd finished humming the alphabet.

Jo briefly broke eye contact and sent a withering glare Shauna's direction. The brunette tilted her head back a little (dammit, the bitch was _taller_ too!) and tried to match her glare, but failed within three seconds. Harris wilted a little and bit her lower lip, unconsciously taking a small step back.

Evans, on the contrary, turned toward one of the other party goers and immediately struck up a conversation, blushing furiously. "_Smart girl_" thought Jo.

Aloud she said to Zane, "I'll pass," and turned to walk away.

"Oh, come on!" he hollered and stood to give chase, exclaiming "Where's your Christmas spirit?" He closed up behind her, catching up rapidly and put a hand on her shoulder. She thought for a split second about sending him ass first into the ice skating rink, but decided reluctantly that it would be a bad idea.

"Seriously" he said in a voice meant only for her ears, "Are you okay?"

She turned into him, not closing the distance any, and said in a low voice, "I have a town full of yahoos that I have to babysit! I. Am. Super!" The sarcasm falling off her voice could have drowned puppies.

"On top of that," she half-snarled, moving a little closer to him, "I come here and see Shauna Harris about ready to straddle both Naughty and Nice legs and give half of GD a private show! Not that fully one fourth of the single men and maybe half that many married ones here don't know _everything_ that slut has to offer!"

He grinned at her and leaned in close, "Well, even if I would admit to knowing, my dear Josephina, she can't have what she wants. I'm already taken." He kissed her softly on the lips as he enfolded her in a very public and not very Nice embrace.

She sighed into it, it was hard not to, but maintained a bit of her ice. "And Evans?" she asked softly.

"Mm. Well! I-" she punched his shoulder with sharply pointed knuckle, frowning, and started to pull away. He tightened his grip on her shoulder and waist. One hand slid down to her rear end and cupped her, "Hey there, ease up! I don't think you've realized yet that Cassandra has more interest in you than she does me. She told me you remind her of some girl on the 'The L Word'".

Jo blushed furiously. "What?" she asked, strangling the words in her shock.

"Yeah" he laughed, obviously enjoying both her discomfort and whatever images the thoughts conjured in his head, if the leer was even a remote indication of what was going on in there!

"But- But I'm- I'm not _that_ sexy and-" he silenced her with another kiss.

He grinned, saying quietly "Jo, she likes the tough chick thing! I can't believe you didn't notice! God, this is rich, she's been pining for you for two years!" he chuckled, and her cheeks felt like the sun was rising behind them.

"You are so damn beautiful when you're embarrassed!" He bent in and gave her a long lingering kiss, and she had to fight her desire to jump him right then and there!

As he backed away he whispered, "Gotta go back to playing Santa till the real thing shows up." he apologized.

"Just so you remember who's you are, mister!" she said with a merry twinkle in her eye. She turned to leave and bumped into her old boss, Sheriff Jack Carter.

"Taggart's Santa," he said by way of greeting.

She glared at him. "You just wrecked Christmas with two words!"

* * *

Later that night she and Zane met at her place. He'd practically moved in on his own by then, and hadn't been back to his place in over a month.

What an evening! Definitely a Christmas for the books! Shrinking towns, flying reindeer, crazy scientists… insanely delicious super-miniature fruitcakes that contained _way_ too many calories!

Zane met her at the door with a deep kiss and a soft embrace. They stayed that way for a while, in and out of the house, the so-called Star of Eureka lighting them in it's waning silver light. "Thanks for the tickets" he murmured.

She smiled into the kiss and said, "Merry Christmas"

She never made it to bed to unwrap her gift, and it was, indeed, a very merry Christmas!

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_**Disclaimer:** I don't own Eureka, it's characters, or its concepts, I'm just playing for fun and an educational experience._

_**Author's Notes: **So I said at the end of Chapter 4 that I wasn't going to write my version of "O Little Town", but I figured why not, especially when AllyrienDM said she was disappointed by that. This is an outtake from my regular story "Project Archimedes", mostly because the main narrative of the Christmas episode takes precedence, minus my changes here, of course. This fits with the basic concept of the story being the "meta-plot" of a season. And yes, Erica Cerra, did actually do a part on "The L Word" on Showtime. One of my friends started watching Eureka because she liked Erica on that show.  
_

_So, I sat down tonight and put "O Little Town" on repeat on my Zune software, and started writing. This is for you AllyrienDM, I hope you like. Now, about that next chapter of "Everything is Illuminated"…_

_Thank you all for reading!_

_The rest of the story is at: fan fiction . net /s/6752064/1/Project_Archimedes (No spaces, dammit FFn, you won't even let me link to you!)_

_I was prompted to do a minor edit, and changed a few things today (4/2/11) to give it a little more of the M rating I put it at, but I think it's still tasteful.  
_


End file.
